Monday, May 21, 2012

PPP-MQM-ANP Backed Balkanization of Pakistan.

Balkanization, or Balkanisation, is a geopolitical term, originally used to describe the process of fragmentation or division of a region or state into smaller regions or states that are often hostile or non-cooperative with each other, and it is considered pejorative. The term refers to the division of the Balkan peninsula, formerly ruled almost entirely by the Ottoman Empire, into a number of smaller states between 1817 and 1912. The term however came into common use in the immediate aftermath of the First World War, with reference to the numerous new states that arose from the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Russian Empire. The term is also used to describe other forms of disintegration, including, for instance, the subdivision of the Internet into separate enclaves, the division of subfields and the creation of new fields from sociology, and the breakdown of cooperative arrangements due to the rise of independent competitive entities engaged in "beggar thy neighbour" bidding wars. ------- The collapse of the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics radically changed the world's economic and political environment. No other conflict of interest dominated the post World War Two world like the cold war did. One man is credited with ending the cold war, Mikhail Gorbachev. This however was not the biggest event Gorbachev was responsible for. The end of the cold war was just a by-product of the other major event he was involved with. That is the fall of communism in the USSR and the collapse of the USSR itself. Gorbachev a communist reformer was appointed General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1985. His appointment followed the death of three previous Soviet leaders in three years. Leonid Brezhnev was first to go followed by Yuri Andropov and Konstantin Chernenko. Not being able to afford another short term leader the old guard appointed the youthful 56 year old Mikhial Gorbachev as General Secretary. From the outside it seemed as if this great superpower self destructed in only three months. The USSR's demise is of course more complicated than this. The break up of the USSR can be traced back to Gorbachevs appointment and his early reforms. Gorbachev introduced a wide ranging program of reform. His major reforms were glasnost, perestroika and democratisation. These reforms allowed the problems of the USSR to be uncovered and become public knowledge. Ethnic unrest, economic inefficiency and historical atrocities were the major challenges Gorbachev faced. How he dealt with these challenges and how successful he was is examined in this report. REFERENCES: Balkanization http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balkanization#cite_note-0http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/balkanizedhttp://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/50323/Balkanization The Collapse of the Soviet Union by James Graham http://www.historyorb.com/russia/intro.shtml

2011: KARACHI: In a speech marked by a discernible reduction of bellicosity, Muttahida Qaumi Movement chief Altaf Hussain said on Wednesday that the Army and the Rangers be deployed in Karachi on a full-time basis to stop it from frequently descending into violence. Mr Hussain set alarm bells ringing late on Tuesday night when he asked the beleaguered people of Karachi — where more than 300 people were killed last month alone — to stock up on ration for at least a month. He said the people must do that even if they had to sell valuables. That the major portion of the Wednesday speech by the MQM chief was in English indicated that he sought to address the international audience in addition to his party’s senior leaders and general workers at the Lal Qila ground in Azizabad. This impression was strengthened by a statement issued by British Foreign Office Minister for South Asia Alistair Burt after speaking to Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad over the phone. Mr Burt expressed his concern “at the continuing violence and loss of life that Karachi has faced in recent weeks”. He said: “I warned that inflammatory statements from any political party risked making the situation worse and that all political leaders and their parties have a duty to refrain from inciting violence and to reduce tensions and restore calm. “Our Deputy High Commissioner in Karachi, Francis Campbell, has met representatives of all main political parties in Karachi to encourage them to work towards stability in Karachi and the wider region. I have asked my officials to reiterate these points directly with the leadership of the MQM and to discuss our concerns.” REFERENCE: Altaf wants army to quell violence By Mukhtar Alam | From the Newspaper August 4, 2011 http://www.dawn.com/2011/08/04/altaf-wants-army-to-quell-violence.html Blood borders How a better Middle East would look By Ralph Peters http://www.armedforcesjournal.com/2006/06/1833899

A superpower is a state with a dominant position in the international system which has the ability to influence events and its own interests and project power on a worldwide scale to protect those interests. A superpower is traditionally considered to be a step higher than a great power. Alice Lyman Miller (Professor of National Security Affairs at the Naval Postgraduate School), defines a superpower as "a country that has the capacity to project dominating power and influence anywhere in the world, and sometimes, in more than one region of the globe at a time, and so may plausibly attain the status of global hegemony." It was a term first applied in 1944 to the British Empire, the Soviet Union and the United States of America. Following World War II, as the British Empire transformed itself into the Commonwealth and its territories became independent, the Soviet Union and the United States generally came to be regarded as the only two superpowers, and confronted each other in the Cold War. REFERENCE: Superpower http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superpower#cite_note-stanford-0 China an Emerging Superpower?By Lyman Miller http://www.stanford.edu/group/sjir/6.1.03_miller.html

LONDON: Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Chief Altaf Hussain has said that international powers were hatching conspiracy for the division of Pakistan, Geo News reported. Addressing an emergency meeting of Rabita Committee in London and Karachi, MQM Chief said that whatever being done in Karachi is a conspiracy against the integrity of Pakistan. Altaf said that he would accept martyrdom but never compromise on his ideology and mission. He asked the party activists to chalk out future plan under his teachings if former would have been killed. He told that they know everything about the game being played against them. Altaf further said that Urdu speaking people could not be made slaves forcibly, adding that they are peace loving people and want to live in the same. REFERENCE: International powers conspiring to divide Pakistan: Altaf Updated 9 hours ago http://www.thenews.com.pk/NewsDetail.aspx?ID=22385&title=International-powers-conspiring-to-divide-Pakistan:-Altaf

2012: ALI PUR: Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani on Saturday said that creating a Seraiki province was the only possible solution to the problems and sufferings of the people of South Punjab. Addressing a public meeting here in Ali Pur, the prime minister said: “The creation of the Seraiki province is not only your right, but my promise to you.” “Seraiki province is the only solution to your problems as you will have your own assembly, your own chief minister and your own courts,” said Gilani. “I promise you, on behalf of President Asif Ali Zardari – who is also in Multan today – that your rights will be fulfilled,” added the prime minister. “Some elements are working against us because they know that if we will remain in the government we will take the decision to form a Seraiki province,” he said. “I was given many offers. I was even offered to become prime minister when I was in jail, and told that neither Benazir Bhutto nor Nawaz Sharif would return to the country. But I refused them all,” said Gilani. Moreover, the prime minister said that 100,000 new jobs would be created with the upcoming budget, which is due to be announced next month. REFERENCE: Gilani reiterates commitment to Seraiki province Agencies 14th April, 2012 http://dawn.com/2012/04/14/gilani-reiterates-commitment-to-seraiki-province/

MQM welcomes announcement by President Zardari for creating Seraiki Province

MULTAN: President Asif Ali Zardari said on Sunday that he would advise the federal government to set up a Seraiki bank and asked businessmen and entrepreneurs to submit a proposal within a week. During a meeting with the business community of southern Punjab, the president said the proposed bank would address financial problems of businessmen of southern Punjab. He said the banks had been manipulated for political purposes in the past but his government was determined to ensure a financial system without political interference. Talking to a delegation of the Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association, President Zardari said the government was trying to overcome electricity and gas crises and expressed the hope that positive results would be achieved by June 30. He assured the ginners that the government would remove all hurdles in cotton export and would take steps to increase foreign exchange earnings. Addressing a press conference, the president categorically said the government had no intention of abolishing the death penalty because it was part of the Constitution. He said the companies which had invested in the energy sector because of government efforts were forced to wind up their projects owing to false allegations of corruption. Mr Zardari said allegations levelled by former president Farooq Leghari and Ehtesab Bureau chief Saifur Rehman against the Benazir government were now being levelled against the present government. Without naming the PML-N leaders, the president said they were organising protests against electricity loadshedding in their strongholds. He said Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani was facing criticism because he had taken up the cause of Seraiki province. He said powers were transferred to the provinces because the policies pursued by the centre did not yield results. “The capacity of provinces will be increased through evolution and eventually they will be able to deliver,” he said. He said he was the first president to surrender powers willingly and after that Nawaz Sharif called him to say that it was unbelievable that he had surrendered his powers. Mr Zardari said he had spoken in favour of the Seraiki province because giving identity to the nationalities was in accordance with the Constitution and PPP manifesto. Replying to a question about the water dispute with India, he said although his visit to India was a private one, first issue that he raised with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was that of water. Talking to a delegation of intellectuals, President Zardari said that giving identity to nationalities was essential because denying it caused a sense of deprivation. He said Bengalis were denied their rights and their identity and as a result they adopted a course which even the army could not reverse.“We are not doing politics on the issue of Seraiki province. It concerns stability and integrity of the country,” he said. He said poverty and non-development in the area engendered terrorism and a delay in creating Seraiki province will strengthen extremism in the region. He said the people of Seraiki belt had turned against Takht-i-Lahore and they want their own identity and province and the PPP would give them their rights. He said the PPP had no agreement with the PML-Q that the new province would consist of only three divisions of southern Punjab. He said other Seraiki districts would also be included in the province according to people’s wishes. APP adds: The president also met a delegation of ulema and mashaikhs and called upon them to work for religious harmony and assist the government in preventing the youths from falling into the trap of militants. He called upon them to highlight the real message of Islam which preached peace, harmony and tolerance. Mr Zardari said limited job opportunities and poverty in the area encouraged militants and extremists to mislead the youths and use their talent for their nefarious objectives. The ulema and mashaikhs assured the president of full support to the government in the war against militancy and in its efforts to wean the youths away from extremism. REFERENCE: Zardari advises govt to set up Seraiki bank 16th April, 2012 http://dawn.com/2012/04/16/zardari-advises-govt-to-set-up-seraiki-bank/

DIVIDING Sindh along ethnic lines — the ‘Mohajir’ south in Karachi and Hyderabad versus the ‘interior’ of the province dominated by Sindhi speakers — is an idea fraught with the most dangerous of consequences. But, as reported in this newspaper yesterday, in Urdu-speaking neighbourhoods of Karachi and partly Hyderabad, the demand for a Mohajir province has grown in recent months, backed by a Mohajir province movement whose leadership has yet to reveal itself publicly. With graffiti on walls proliferating and the odd rally held in support of the so-called Mohajir province, suspicion has fallen on the MQM as the architect of the movement. While the MQM has officially tried to distance itself from the campaign, particularly via supporting a resolution in the Sindh Assembly against the division of Sindh, it has not condemned the Mohajir province movement. Party leaders have spoken of the growing sense of frustration among Urdu-speakers in the province that they are not getting their due share of resources and jobs from the state. That has only served to heighten the suspicions of Sindhi nationalists, who are bitterly opposed to the idea of dividing Sindh and who have deep misgivings about the MQM’s intentions, particularly since the MQM introduced bills calling for the creation of new provinces in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa earlier this year. If Sindh, especially its urban areas, is to be spared a terrifying round of violence between those who count Urdu as their mother tongue and native Sindhi speakers, both the MQM and the Sindhi nationalists have to act quickly. On the MQM’s part, it needs to go beyond demonstrating that it has no active role in the movement and address suspicions that it is not really averse to such a campaign. On the Sindhi nationalists’ part, their habitual reactionary ways need to be curbed. Their hostility towards the MQM, no matter what that party does or doesn’t do, only serves to keep ethnic tensions in Sindh at an uncomfortably high level. In recent times, Altaf Hussain has repeatedly spoken of recognising that Mohajirs were ‘new’ Sindhis and in a matter of generations would culturally and socially become indistinguishable from the ‘old’ Sindhis. Reaching out to Sindhis in that manner was unprecedented for the MQM, but the Sindhi nationalists have been dismissive of the overtures. That Karachi is a tinderbox always seemingly on the verge of an ethnic, sectarian or political breakdown is known to everyone. Talk of a Mohajir province only serves to complicate an already fiendishly complex problem. Mohajir and Sindhi nationalist leaders must work to reassure each other at this uneasy juncture. REFERENCE: Dangerous idea http://dawn.com/2012/05/22/dangerous-idea/

Talks to Dr Shahid Masood in Geo programme ‘Mere Mutabiq’; Mustafa Azizabadi of MQM surprised at heinous allegations against third largest political party - News Desk - RAWALPINDI: Operation clean-up that began in the interior Sindh on May 20, 1992 was originally targeted against dacoits but the scope was widened to the urban areas including Karachi to do away with the impression that it was against Sindhis. The operation in the urban Sindh was launched on June 19, 1992 and on the same day army raided MQM central offices at Al-Karam Squire and ‘90’ in Karachi. Responding to Dr Shahid Masood’s questions in the Geo News programme ‘Mere Mutabiq’ Brig (retd) Asif Haroon recalled that the operation in the interior Sindh was inevitable as the area was paralysed because of the law and order situation. The MQM was hesitant over the action but Nawaz Sharif was adamant and insisted that it had to be carried out. Brig Asif Haroon admitted that the 1992 briefing with regard to Jinnahpur was given without the map of Jinnahpur. The situation in Karachi had also deteriorated because of the ongoing operation in the interior Sindh. It had also tarnished army’s image because of certain actions and to do away with this situation it was taken to Karachi. Taking part in the programme, Mustafa Azizabadi of the MQM refused to accept what was stated by Brig Asif and said to carry forward some opinion without verifying its authenticity is enough to believe that he is wrong. He said the utterances of Brig Asif Haroon are contradictory also. He was surprised as how such heinous allegations were levelled against the third largest political party of the country without any basis. He recalled that at that time the MQM Quaid Altaf Hussain had challenged to produce the said anti-state documents in the Supreme Court of Pakistan along with proof. He had also announced that if the charges were proved against him, he might be hanged at the Minar-e-Pakistan in Lahore. He recalled that ISPR had also refused to support the claims and declared that army had not found any conspiracy concerning Jinnah Pure. Dr Shahid Masood asked Asif Haroon as to where from he had received the Jinnah Pure maps that he had produced at that time. He reminded him that now his seniors are maintaining that such maps had never existed. Asif denied the statement and said that he had never presented such maps neither he had seen them. He said it began on July 17, 1992 when a briefing was held at Malir Cantonment in view of the operation clean up in Sindh. Some of the generals from Rawalpindi present there were keen to secure first hand knowledge about the happenings in the interior Sindh. Asif admitted that MQM was assured that the operation was against dacoits in the interior of the province. When asked as to ever he saw the Jinnah Pure map or it was in his knowledge, Brig Asif said he never saw them but revealed that in one of the briefings at Hyderabad the GOC had informed that posters and documents pertaining to Jinnah Pure were recovered during a raid at the MQM Unit office at Kotri. Setting aside claims from Brig Asif, Mustafa Azizabadi maintained that on June 19, 1992, army and rangers raided offices at Al-Karam Squire and ‘90’ in Karachi and the action continued for almost 15 days. The offices were burnt down and army and rangers pickets were set up there. But no one claimed to have found any thing pertaining to Jinnah Pure between June 19 and October 11. He ridiculed the statement of DG Rangers Gen Safdar that came the other day claiming that such documents were recovered in large number, rather in thousands. He referred to the conflicting claims from Gen Safdar and that of Gen Asad Durrani, former ISI director general who say that no such recoveries were made. Mustafa asked Asif to reveal as to who had misused and exploited him. When Dr Shahid Masood asked Brig Asif to elaborate the situation, he said when he met Gen Naseer Akhtar the other day he found him annoyed over the emanating of several disclosures. He asked me to handle the situation carefully. The other day I contacted Brig Mumtaz in Hyderabad who could not confirm the availability of such documents despite initial confirmation. The corps headquarters and the ISI desk also denied possession of any such literature. Mustafa Azizabadi maintained that the conflicting and baseless arguments confirm Brig Imtiaz’s version that the Jinnah Pure issue was simply a drama. It was also a sheer joke with a large section of the society. To a question from Dr Shahid Masood, Br Asif Haroon said he might agree that everything might be a fabricated story. Over this confession, Mustafa Azizabadi said now he leaves everything to the people of the country to ponder as to how things were fabricated to get declared MQM an anti state entity. He said like Jinnah Pure drama and torture cell cases were also visualised and publicised under a planned programme. However about the torture cells, Brig Asif Haroon said he was responsible to press briefings only and taking the media to places where the concerned officials claimed to have recovered them. He recalled finding of three torture cells, one of them being in the Lines Area. REFERENCE: Brig Asif says he never saw ‘Jinnahpur’ map Wednesday, September 02, 2009 http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=24259&Cat=13&dt=9%2F2%2F2009

ISLAMABAD: If history has any relevance in our politics then the Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) ñ so closely allied today — were daggers drawn over the Jinnahpur conspiracy in 1992 and the PPP was accusing the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) of cover-up while the then-Nawaz Sharif government was pleading complete innocence. Reports carried by leading newspapers on the issue during 1992 show the Nawaz-led IJI government had completely denied the existence of Jinnahpur conspiracy but the PPP-led PDA (Pakistan Democratic Alliance) opposition charged the government of covering up the MQM’s conspiracy. However, the Jamaat-e-Islami, a coalition partner in the government, once moved an adjournment motion in the National Assembly to discuss the Jinnahpur conspiracy. It was no less than opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, who had accused the Nawaz regime of trying to cover up the conspiracy of the MQM which, according to her, wanted to make a separate homeland with the support of India. The incumbent President, Asif Ali Zardari, had also demanded action against Jinnahpur planners.

Today though the MQM targets the PML-N for the Jinnahpur conspiracy, during those times MQM Chief Altaf Hussain was even found hailing the Nawaz government for exposing Jinnahpur. Altaf Hussain also demanded a probe into the matter by the Supreme Court. Similarly, the PML-N, which today passes the buck on the Army and intelligence agencies to have created the Jinnahpur drama, during those days insisted that the plot was a figment of imagination of the PPP. The then-interior minister Chaudhry Shujaat was also reported to have said the Army used to operate as per the directive of the government. In order to have a true sense of the political divide of those times and the position of different political parties on the issue of Jinnahpur, briefs of statements and reports of newspapers of different political leaders and analysts on the issue are reproduced here. Jang Karachi quoted Benazir Bhutto on July 6, 1992 as saying if Beharis are settled in Sindh it would pave the way for Jinnahpur and Sindhudesh. She said Sindh had proved to be waterloo for the past rulers and it may also become the same for Nawaz Sharif. July 18, 1992 Jang Karachi reported Brigadier Haroon, the Army spokesman, as saying in a press briefing that the MQM had planned a separate homeland. The News of July 17 quoted him as saying there were confirmed intelligence reports, revealing the MQM plans. The map of the planned country was also discovered during the operation, he claimed.

On Oct 11, 1992 Jang Lahore ran a story filed by its reporter Azhar Sohail which talked of the Army high command providing documentary evidence to the government that the MQM was planning to create an independent state called Jinnahpur comprising Hyderabad, Thatta, Badin, Karachi and all those areas of upper Sindh that are oil rich. The report said the corps commander meeting in a recent meeting discussed the issue and decided to provide all the material to the government. Politician Meraj Muhammad Khan was reported to have said on Oct 12, 1992 that the Jinnahpur map issue is a fraud. A day later, Shaheen Sehbai, who is presently Group Editor of The News, reported for Dawn “A House losing its temper” and wrote in his Press Gallery, “The opposition was pressing for a debate on Jinnahpur, the supposed brainchild of the MQM to separate Urdu-speaking areas from Pakistan.” The same day The News reported the voting out of NA motion by the treasury benches on Jinnahpur. The News also reported the then deputy opposition leader Farooq Leghari to have said the prime minister (Nawaz Sharif) was involved in the Jinnahpur conspiracy and claimed that the government opposed motion on the issue because it did not want to go into details.

Dawn on Oct 14, 1992 carried MQM Chief Altaf Hussain’s statement in which he called for a Supreme Court probe to investigate the charges of Jinnahpur against the MQM. The same newspaper reported on Oct 15 about two separate adjournment motions moved by the PDA and Jamaat-e-Islami members to discuss the Jinnahpur conspiracy. In a press conference on Oct 17, the then key minister of Nawaz regime Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said Jinnahpur plot did not exist. “The government would not allow anyone to subvert the rights of Muhajirs. It is baseless that we have ever discussed the creation of the so-called Jinnahpur with the MQM,” he was quoted to have said. Nisar also dispelled the impression that the whole MQM was a terrorist organisation and insisted the good and bad people were in every party. He asked Altaf Hussain to respond to the allegations levelled against his party. The same day ANP Chief Ajmal Khattak said there is no truth in the reports that the MQM had planned anything to break Pakistan or to establish Jinnahpur.October 19 newspapers carry ISPR press release, conveying Army’s denial of the knowledge of the Jinnahpur plan.

“The Army had no evidence concerning the so-called Jinnahpur plan, it is clarified that the newspaper story in question is baseless. The Army has neither handed over to the government any document or map as reported, not is it in possession of any evidence concerning the so-called ‘Jinnahpur’ plan. It is also factually wrong that the matter was discussed at any meeting of the corps commander.” But the same day Benazir Bhutto in a statement in the National Assembly said the government was consciously covering up the Jinnahpur conspiracy and is backing up the MQM from day one. Nawa-e-Waqt quoted her as saying the motive of the organisation (MQM) is to create a separate homeland with the support of India. She demanded of the removal of Nawaz Sharif from the government for supporting, abetting and financing the dismemberment of Pakistan. She said it was of no use to blame Altaf Hussain. “His partner, supporter and guide Nawaz Sharif must go,” The News reported on October 19. The same day the then-interior minister Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain was reported to have said in the National Assembly a day before that Jinnahpur is a non-issue and the brainchild of the PPP. Farooq Leghari, however, demanded judicial probe into the plot and contended that disclosure of the Jinnahpur plot had exposed the MQM’s anti-state activities which needed further investigations. Shaheen Sehbai in Dawn’s “From Press Gallery” wrote on October 19, “Jinnahpur is all fiction”. “Including the opposition leader, Benazir Bhutto, could hardly produce anything about the much trumpeted Jinnahpur beyond newspaper clippings or a reported statement of an Army spokesman made in front of a team of Islamabad journalists. Even that was said to have been denied by the Army,” wrote Sehbai.

The News of Oct 19 also quoted Asif Ali Zardari to have desiring action against Jinnahpur planners. “Zardari said the denial of the plan made by the leader of the Islami Jamhoori Ittehad was meaningless,” the newspaper read. In his report “The last refuge of a scoundrel”, Nusrat Javed, senior journalist, wrote in The News on Oct 19, “A military spokesman, Brigadier Haroon, told this to a group of newsmen visiting Karachi in mid-July that there were confirmed intelligence reports that some of the MQM leaders were trying to create a separate state. This correspondent was present at the Army briefing in Karachi where such allegations were made and one reported about them like the rest of the newsmen present. Reference to Haroon’s allegations demands another simple answer, i.e., whether the Nawaz government agrees to the perception expressed by a senior Army officer?” Tariq Butt of The News on October 19 also reported of Benazir Bhutto’s accusing the government of cover-up. “When Interior Minister Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain described the Jinnahpur conspiracy as a dangerous figment of the PDA’s imagination, opposition MNAs accused the government of being a party to the plot,” the story filed by Butt read.

The same day Nawa-e-Waqt ran a story quoting Benazir Bhutto to have said the Army had uncovered the Jinnahpur conspiracy but the government was silent on the issue. Dawn on October 21, 1992 reported Altaf Hussain to have been praising the government. The report headlined, “Altaf hails govt for exposing Jinnahpur”. According to the report, the MQM chief said the government (of Nawaz Sharif) and its agencies in the same effective manner should display a positive attitude to review the baseless allegations levelled against the MQM to bring about an improvement in the present constitutional and political crises, particularly in Sindh.” Oct 21, 1992 Jang published a story based on Asif Ali Zardari’s statement that was though appeared conflicting with the PPP stance at that time, suits today’s politics of the PPP and the MQM. The newspaper reported Mr Zardari to have said in a court premises in Karachi that the Jinnahpur scandal was created to malign the MQM. The same day Dawn reported Farooq Leghari to have been refuting the government’s claim that Jinnahpur was a figment of imagination of the PPP. He also demanded constitution of a high-powered commission headed by the chief justice of Pakistan and comprising all the four high court chief justices to look into the matter. Several years later on December 14, 1998 The News carried a statement of Altaf Hussain on the same issue. Altaf Hussain demanded probe into reports about Jinnahpur and said the separate Jinnahpur state allegations was a well-planned conspiracy which was used as a message for the Muhajir community that they would continue to be victimised if they did not demand a separate state. REFERENCE: Where PPP, PML-N and MQM stood on Jinnahpur in 1992 Ansar Abbasi Thursday, September 03, 2009 http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=196297&Cat=2&dt=9%2F3%2F2009

ISLAMABAD: No matter who has authored the script of the ongoing Brig Imtiaz tamasha, engulfing the political arena, the establishment that includes the military-led intelligence agencies and the Pakistan Army have emerged as the main villains, presumably as the authors of the fiasco wanted. Nawaz Sharif and his party are uncomfortable; demand for Musharraf’s trial has been sidetracked at least for the time being; the MQM gets into a position where it believes that its stand is vindicated but the Jinnahpur controversy also created an opportunity for its opponents for a much open criticism of the party and its policies; the issues like the scrapping of 17th Amendment have now become more complex with the two leading parties setting up for a political confrontation after the PML-N finds the Presidency behind the current smear campaign against its top leadership; however, President Asif Zardari is least affected by this recently started political wrangling. It rather has favoured him by temporarily silencing the guns that were targeting him and the government from all around for their alleged misrule, on charges of corruption, the sugar scandal and the reported ruining of the state institutions.

The PML-N, which is badly hurt by the revelations about the alleged provision of Rs3.5 million to its party chief Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif by former ISI chief Lt-Gen (retd) Asad Durrani, is pointing its finger at the president to have been the architect of the get-Nawaz campaign. However, the Presidency has strongly refuted these charges but different presidential aides are issuing the kind of statements that apparently show the presidency is getting amused with the situation. However, what is interesting is the unanimity between all these warring political forces showing their abhorrence over the role of the establishment in country’s politics. But in a strange dichotomy except the PML-N, the other two major warring political forces — the PPP and the MQM — are not interested in proceeding against Gen (retd) Musharraf under Article 6 of the Constitution. As one scans through the debates that took place in different talk shows of various private television channels after the recent emergence of the Jinnahpur controversy, the establishment is found to be the target of all.

The MQM, which had been the most trusted supporter of Gen Musharraf during his nine years rule, says that its Quaid Altaf Hussain is not returning to Pakistan because of the establishment. The PPP, too, said that the military operators and intelligences agencies have not been adhering to the command of the civilian governments whereas the PML-N is of the view that it has repeatedly found the establishment and Army chiefs overstretching their mandate. While appearing as a guest in one of the talk shows, PML-N information secretary Ahsan Iqbal has said it has been a harsh reality in Pakistan that policy decisions on some specific security and international issues have not been taken with the consultation or consent of the civilian government. He quoted the Kargil issue as one example and urged upon the need of rationalising the power structure in such a manner that no step could be taken against the wishes of the democratic government. He said the PML-N differed with former Army chief Gen (retd) Aslam Beg after he issued a statement on the Gulf war that did not match the government’s policy. He said similarly Gen (retd) Asif Nawaz exceeded from the mandate he was given before launching the military operation against criminals, dacoits and anti-social elements in Sindh in 1992. Another Army Chief Gen (retd) Jehangir Karamat, he said, was removed because of his statement on the setting up of National Security Council. He said the PML-N government differed with Gen (retd) Musharraf on the Kargil issue. Senior PML-N leader Khwaja Muhammad Asif was of the view that the military-led intelligence agencies have been extremely powerful and instrumental in the making and breaking of the government. On the issue of the military operation in Karachi and the target killings there, Khwaja Asif said the agencies were mainly responsible for that. He said in both the 1992-93 and 1995-96 operations in Karachi, these were the military intelligence agencies that had played the important role.

Interestingly, it was Khwaja Asif, who admitted that had the agencies not been so powerful MQM Quaid Altaf Hussain would have now been in Pakistan. Khwaja Asif said Altaf Hussain’s apprehensions towards the intelligences agencies, are barring him to come back and lead his party, which according to the N-leader would serve the political culture better. Khwaja Asif also pointed out that the present situation in the tribal areas, Balochistan, Northern Areas and in Southern Punjab is also the outcome of what the agencies did during the last 20-22 years. The PML-N leaders have been distancing itself from the 1992 military operation against the MQM and insisted that it was the Army which had overstepped. In return, the MQM leaders, too, were mainly complaining to the PML-N and its leader Nawaz Sharif over his silence and the failure to stop the 1992 military operation against the MQM. MQM leader Haider Abbas Rizvi endorsed Khwaja’s views and said Hakim Saeed was killed by the agencies but the MQM was blamed for his murder. He lamented that the MQM workers were killed in an extra-judicial manner; military courts were created to try Muttahida workers, who were punished illegally and in violation of the Constitution through summary trials by these courts.

Rizvi said in the 1992 operation what he called the Haqiqi terrorists were riding in military jeeps during the Army’s operation against the MQM. “It was all planted,” he said, and lamented the then-prime minister could not do anything to stop the operation. Wasim Akhtar, another MQM leader, said in one the private channel that it’s a pity that the largest political parties of the country are today still dependent on Army and America. Dr Nadeem Ahsan of the MQM said MQM workers do not want Altaf Hussain to come back. He said the MQM Chief’s life is facing threats from the enemies of Pakistan. When asked to name these enemies, he pointed to both internal and external forces. When further probed, Dr Nadeem Ahsan initially named the Taliban and later said, “There are some other forces too. You can also name establishment.” When asked if the MQM fears from the establishment, he said, “Yes”. PPP information secretary Fauzia Wahab, too, in a talkshow talked of the political influence of the ISI which, according to her, grew after the agencies exposure in the Afghan war against former Soviet Union. Wahab, who is generally considered as her master’s (President) voice, said during the Afghan war the ISI became very resourceful and developed new technologies, which the agencies has to use somewhere to prove its worth. Referring to the history and also finding it true in the present day Pakistan, she said one thing is clear that in Pakistan democracy never got strengthened and the civilian authority has never been maintained. She said in her view there does not exist any central authority. Fauzia Wahab also added the 1992 operation is the reflection of the fact that the military operators at that time were not ready to concede the supremacy of the civilian leadership. She, however, believed the military interventions can’t be stopped by hanging a dictator but by improving the performance of parliament and through the vision and greater assertion of the political leadership. Dr Firdous Aashiq Awan, another PPP leader, blamed the establishment for the PPP government’s “mistake” to launch operation in Karachi against the MQM in 1995-96. REFERENCE: Establishment — the main target in current fiasco Ansar Abbasi Wednesday, September 02, 2009 http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=24254&Cat=13&dt=9%2F2%2F2009

LAHORE: The much trumpeted 1992 operation clean-up in Sindh had actually been launched against the backdrop of the infamous ‘Major Kaleem kidnapping case’, when a serving Army major was abducted and tortured, allegedly by a group of activists belonging to the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (which was then known as the Muhajir Qaumi Movement). While the MQM leadership has recently blamed former prime minister Nawaz Sharif for the 1992 operation and asked him to apologise for the atrocities committed during his tenure, it remains a fact that the MQM high command had held at that time the military leadership responsible for the action, saying it actually wanted to avenge the honour of Major Kaleemuddin. As a matter of fact, Major Kaleemuddin of the Field Investigation Unit (FIU) of the Army had been tasked to restore peace in the trouble-stricken Landhi area of Karachi. He was abducted on June 20, 1991, along with a few subordinates, while in civvies ñ the night when the MQM-Haqiqi led by Afaq Ahmed made an abortive attempt to take over Landhi offices of the Altaf-led MQM, called Muhajir Khel. This led to a bloody gun battle between the two MQM factions, killing many from both sides.

However, the Haqiqi group was forced to flee after the Altaf group unleashed all its fire power in the gun battle. A few hours after the abortive attempt by the Haqiqi group, Major Kaleemuddin was abducted from the Landhi area by armed activists of the MQM, who allegedly took him to a torture cell and subjected him to ‘mistreatment’. The Major Kaleemuddin kidnapping case is still described by many in the establishment as the bedrock of the subsequent military operations carried out against the MQM under the Sharif and the Bhutto governments. Altaf Hussain and several other MQM leaders and workers were subsequently accused of being involved in the kidnapping episode and named in the FIR registered on June 24, 1991. Altaf left Pakistan in December 1992. But there are different versions of what exactly happened to Major Kaleemuddin. Some of the MQM leaders had claimed after the incident that the abductors were under the impression that MQM-Haqiqi leaders ñ Afaq Ahmed and Amir Khan - had returned to the port city at the behest of the agencies and that the major was present in Landhi to supervise the establishment-sponsored operation against them. During the court trial, many of the accused had claimed that since the major was in plain clothes, he was mistaken by them for a Haqiqi activist and subsequently roughed up. But as soon he had revealed his identity, the major was allowed to go.

However, according to the prosecution, Major Kaleemuddin, along with three other Army officers, was patrolling the Landhi area in an Army jeep when 20 armed youths took them hostage after seizing their weapons. The Army men were taken to a place called Muhajir Khel in Landhi where they were allegedly tortured and kept for seven hours and rescued when the police reached the place. The accused charged with kidnapping the Army officers and torturing them included Altaf Hussain, Saleem Shahzad, Dr Imran Farooq, Safdar Baqri, Nadeem Ayubi, Ayub Shah, Aftab Ahmed, Ismail alias Sitara, Ashraf Zaidi, Sajid Azad, Ashfaq Chief, Javed Kazmi, Haji Jalal Asghar Chacha, Rehan Zaidi and Mohammad Yousuf. Whatever the truth might be, the then-Army high command’s keen interest in the prosecution of the accused gave an impression as if the traditional martial pride of the Khakis - that nobody gets away with bashing up an Army officer ñ was at work. Gen Asif Nawaz had been the Corps Commander Karachi at that time who got promoted as the Army Chief in August 1991, right before the start of the military operation.

A special court for suppression of terrorist activities (STA), led by Justice Rafiq Awan, began hearing of the Kaleemuddin kidnapping case in March 1993 and delivered judgment on June 9, 1994. The court had convicted Ashfaq Chief, Javed Kazmi and Haji Jalal and sentenced them to 30 years of rigorous imprisonment, besides imposing a fine of Rs 20,000 each under the Pakistan Penal Code, the Hudood Ordinance. All other accused, including Altaf Hussain, were declared absconders and sentenced to 27 years jail and a fine of Rs 30,000 each in absentia. Almost three years later, following the 1997 general elections and the subsequent decision by Altaf Hussain to join hands with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, all the convicted MQM leaders and activists challenged afresh their conviction and sentences before the Sindh High Court. Their appeal was heard by a division bench, which found the case as one ‘of almost no legal evidence’. Relying on the provisions of the Suppression of Terrorist Activities Act, 1976, the bench upheld on trial in absentia as well as the right of the absentee accused to file an appeal. Dealing with evidence, the bench observed that the eyewitnesses’ account did not inspire confidence and the evidence of the complainant was, in particular, full of contradictions.

The bench, comprising Justice Nizam Hussain Siddiqui and Justice Abdul Hameed, noted that it is difficult to believe, a group of 15 or 20 boys could disarm four trained soldiers. Therefore, all the accused were acquitted and three convicts serving their term were ordered to be released immediately. But it is interesting to point out that after AQ Halepota, one of the counsels for the MQM leaders, concluded his arguments before the court, the then-advocate-general Sindh Shaukat Zuberi submitted that numerous omissions and contradictions had been made during the trial of Major Kaleemuddin’s kidnapping and torture case and that he would not support the convictions of the accused by the STA court. The verdict came hardly a week after the then-prime minister Nawaz Sharif had travelled to London to meet Altaf Hussain. To recall, the MQM and the PML-N had been coalition partners at that time, before finally falling apart following the assassination of Hakim Mohammad Saeed in Karachi. Major Kaleemuddin had subsequently challenged the acquittal of the MQM leaders and activists by the Sindh High Court. But the petition was dismissed as withdrawn by the apex court on August 13, 2007, mainly due to non-prosecution, as neither the petitioner nor his counsel had turned up. REFERENCE: MQM shifts blame for 1992 operation from military to Nawaz Amir Mir Wednesday, September 02, 2009 http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=24255&Cat=13&dt=9%2F2%2F2009

LAHORE: The decision to launch the infamous 1992 operation clean-up in Sindh was largely taken by the military establishment immediately after the retirement of General Mirza Aslam Beg as the Army chief and the elevation of the then chief of general staff General Asif Nawaz Janjua to his place in August 1991. General Janjua had been the corps commander Karachi for three years from April 1988 to March 1991 before being elevated as chief of general staff in April 1991 for a brief period, only to be made the 10th chief of army staff three months later on August 16, 1991. And the operation clean-up was launched shortly afterwards. A careful scanning of the Pakistani newspaper files between 1989 and 1992 show that a proposal to send in the Army to ‘clean up’ Sindh was first floated in 1989 when Ghulam Ishaq Khan was the president of the country, Benazir Bhutto the prime minister, General Aslam Beg the Army chief and Lt-Gen Asif Nawaz the corps commander Karachi. However, difference of opinion arose after Ghulam Ishaq and General Aslam Beg opposed the suggestion. It was during his tenure as the corps commander Karachi that Asif Nawaz shot to prominence. Sindh at that time wilted under the most violent period in its history. Ethnic battles between Sindhis and Mohajirs were a routine affair and Asif Nawaz was often asked by the civil administration to deploy his troops to impose curfew and break the civil strife.

On one such occasion, Lt-Gen Asif Nawaz had to personally come forward as a guarantor between two ethnic extremist groups to ensure a safe swapping of the hostages from both sides, who otherwise would have been killed. Therefore, he had floated a proposal to the PPP government in 1989 for carrying out two separate operations in urban and rural areas of Sindh against extremist elements in the Mohajir Qaumi Movement (MQM) and Al-Zulfiqar Organisation as well as against criminals and dacoits who had been enjoying the protection of influential political personalities and landlords. However, Beg reportedly voiced his opposition to the proposal and simply dragged his feet by demanding Herculean powers from the federal government for the Army under Section 245 of the Constitution.

Even otherwise, there were elements in the Bhutto government who argued that a genuinely impartial military operation, cutting across party and ethnic lines, as envisioned by Asif Nawaz, would shake the foundations of the entire political edifice. However, the ground work preceding the military operation in Sindh was eventually started in August 1991 soon after Aslam Begís retirement and Asif Nawazís elevation by Ishaq Khan. After taking Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif into confidence, the military high command had issued directives to the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and the Military Intelligence (MI) to prepare secret reports on the activities of dacoits, criminals, terrorists as well as political elements patronising notorious elements in Sindh. A separate cell was formed within these agencies to focus on the activities of the Altaf-led MQM, but with precise directives that these reports should remain completely impartial and credible.

However, problems began to crop up when Prime Minister Sharif was informed by the intelligence agencies that some provincial ministers allied to his Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI), President Ishaqís son-in-law Irfanullah Khan Marwat, several prominent Pirs of Sindh, then chief Minister of the province Jam Sadiq Ali and some key members of the PPP and the Altaf-led MQM were all involved in criminal activities. Subsequently, the leaderships of different political parties were informed of these intelligence reports and asked to purge their parties of such elements as early as possible. In response, the PPP high command publicly severed its links with Al-Zulfiqar while Altaf Hussain deemed it fit to expel Afaq Ahmed and Amir Khan from the MQM. However, Nawaz Sharif was advised by his close aides that so many politicians from Sindh have been named in the intelligence reports as criminals that if they were rounded up, the Jam Sadiq-led coalition government would simply collapse; the PPP would seize power in Sindh and the PML-led government in Islamabad would be plunged into a serious political crisis. Sharif was also warned that any action against criminal elements of the Altaf-led party by the Army could prove counter productive, despite the fact that intelligence reports had described the MQM as “a state within a state”.

Nonetheless, General Asif Nawaz Janjua was determined to move ahead with his plan of an operation clean-up in Sindh to cleanse the province of criminals. By that time, the infamous kidnapping and torture of Major Kaleemuddin by MQM henchmen had already taken place. In May 1992, a month before the operation was officially launched, the original plan was reviewed by the GHQ and it was decided that a direct clash between the Army and the MQM should be avoided.

Therefore, the MQM-Haqiqi was launched. But the intelligence move backfired and severely damaged the credibility of the Army. During a high-level troika meeting hardly two weeks before the operation clean-up, General Asif told Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif that although many MQM, PML, PPP and Pagaro League members were on the criminal list, the Armyís first and foremost target would be dacoits in interior Sindh. However, as soon as the operation was launched, Nawaz Sharif was taken by surprise as the Army opted to raid the Nine Zero headquarters of the MQM in Azizabad to arrest dozens of its activists and leaders who were wanted for their involvement in criminal and terrorist activities. By that time, while sensing the gravity of the situation, Altaf Hussain had already fled Karachi for London. As pressure mounted on Nawaz Sharif by the component parties of the IJI, he decided to give a clear cut message to the Army by travelling to London to meet Altaf Hussain on June 19, 1992 when the operation clean-up was at its peak in Karachi and Hyderabad. And his move explicitly meant to distance himself from the operation clean-up of the Pakistan Army that was being directed against one of his important coalition partners in Sindh — the Altaf-led MQM. REFERENCE: General Janjua — the man behind 1992 operation Amir Mir Friday, September 04, 2009 http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=196562&Cat=2&dt=9%2F4%2F2009